Many head coverings are designed to protect the wearer's face and head from the sun, providing relief from the sun and limiting the short term and long term health problems associated with overexposure to direct sunlight. Contemporary head coverings may allow some passive air circulation within the head covering to increase the comfort of the wearer. However, current head covering designs fail to achieve a sufficient level of air circulation, and under direct sunlight the temperature inside the head covering may rise to uncomfortable levels. This may result in the wearer regularly taking the head covering off and exposing the wearer's head and face to harmful sunlight.
For example, a common method for allowing air circulation is to place small holes in the head covering, often in the crown. The holes must be small and there must be relatively few of them to prevent unwanted sunlight from reaching the wearer's head. This may result in restricted air circulation. Another method for allowing air circulation is to incorporate a thin flexible mesh into the design of the hat. The mesh, however, may also allow a dangerous amount of direct ultraviolet radiation from the sun to reach the wearer's head. Other attempts to increase air circulation may include mechanical devices which force air into the dome, but these methods substantially increase manufacturing costs and have not found a wider market acceptance. These and other contemporary head covering designs therefore fail to achieve a sufficient level of air circulation while providing adequate protection from the sun.